


Snow

by Firenza



Category: Wolf 359 - Fandom
Genre: Amnesia, F/M, Goddard sucks, Hot Chocolate, but also doesn’t, first snow, ptsd mention, return to earth, snow ball fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 06:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16080644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firenza/pseuds/Firenza
Summary: It’s the first snowfall since they’ve returned to Earth, and Doug realizes he’s never seen snow before.





	Snow

**Author's Note:**

> I’d recommend listening to _Snow _by Sleeping At Last while reading this. Writing it made me think of this song and it’s one of my all time favorites.__

Returning home to the heavy, oppressive mid-summer Florida heat after spending years on board a regulated space station was probably the worst thing that could have happened to the former crew of the _USS Hephaestus_. So many things could have gone wrong during landing. The heat shields could have failed, an engine could have exploded, or Renée and Isabelle could have crashed the ship while docking. Thankfully, nothing seriously destructive happened. Instead, the five passengers left the ship only to be immediately hounded by reporters.

It took weeks to finally get the reporters off their backs, and in the throngs of people wanting to learn how exactly Miranda Pryce and Douglas Eiffel lost their memories, they found one who was more interested in a reunion than anything. Dominik Koudelka had come to Canaveral just to see if what he saw on the news was correct. That, against all odds, his wife and (most) of her crew were _alive._ Their reunion was beautiful and tearful. Doug had to tear himself away. There was no one here that would be excited to see him home and that realization only made him feel even more lost than he had been before.

The scientists at Goddard made the crew undergo a large amount of physical and mental exams. The physicals went okay for the most part, but it surprised nobody when Isabelle and Renée were both diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder. They’d been through more trauma in a few years than most people could go through in a lifetime. The psychologists said they would be okay, but it would take years before it would start to get better, and even after that it would never go away. Daniel refused to be tested, playing the fact that he still very much outranked the doctors as an SI-5 officer.

After all of the tests were over, and they were free to go, Isabelle left for a much needed vacation in Hawaii and Daniel disappeared to God knows where. Some of the scientists helped them reinstall Hera into a small computer that would allow them to install her in Dominik’s home back in New York. They would need to set up small cameras and microphones around the house. Dominik was uncomfortable with the idea at first, but after seeing how Renée was much more comfortable with her around, he changed his mind quickly.

Doug moved in with Renée and Dom after realizing he had nowhere else to go. They accepted him with open arms, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding somewhere he shouldn’t. Renée shook her head kindly at him after he voiced this concern and said, “We’ve lived together for years now. I honestly think it would be weirder if you weren’t here.” And that was the end of that. It was the end of fall by the time he truly felt like he was home.

The beginning of winter brought Isabelle home from her trip to Hawaii, refreshed and ready to begin her take down of Goddard Futuristics, and something Doug had only heard of: Christmas. Renée claimed that the holiday was also his birthday, but he didn’t really feel like the day held any significance to him. Instead, he asked if he could choose another day to celebrate his birthday, at least one that would be different form the one of his driver’s license. He chose July 14, the day they landed back on Earth. He was certain Renée shed a tear when he told her this.

However, there was something that he had yet to experience now that he was back on Earth: snow. Sure, he’d seen pictures of picturesque landscapes covered in blankets ov white, but there had hardly been a flake since they’d returned.

The day started off like any other. Doug slid out of bed and flinched at the sudden chill that ran up his spine. He slipped out of his pajamas and threw a sweatshirt and joggers on. The early morning chill woke him up easily, but he still trudged down the stairs and grabbed a cup of coffee as soon as he stepped into the kitchen. Dom sat at the dining room table reading a newspaper, and gave Doug a small wave. Renée stood at the stove, a mug of coffee in hand and an egg sizzling on a pan. It took her a moment to notice that Doug had entered the kitchen, and she grunted at him when she did.

“Hey, Doug,” Dom called from the other room. Doug poked his head into the dining room to see what he wanted, “Have you looked outside yet?” There was a glimmer of something unidentifiable in the reporter’s eyes.

“Outside?”

“Yeah. Why don’t you take a look.” He gestured to the window. Doug cautiously approaches the window. It wouldn’t be out of character for Dom to lead him right into Isabelle who would be waiting with some sort of prank. They seemed to be the tricksters of their strange, not-actually-a-family family. When he was sure that Isabelle wasn’t going to jump out and shoot him with a water pistol, he peeled back the curtain. Sunlight blinded him for a moment, but as his eyes adjusted he was met with a stunning sight.

A blanket of glittering white covered the ground. White clumps stuck to the bare magnolia tree in the yard. Isabelle was standing in the mostly covered driveway, large shovel in hand, easily tossing piles of the white stuff onto what he assumed was the grass. Daniel- when had he gotten back?- lazily lounged against the tree as he chatted with her.

It took him a moment to comprehend what was happening, but when he did his jaw fell open. “Snow…?” He whispered.

Renée came up to stand behind him, a small smile on her lips. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” A soft sigh escapes her lips, fogging the glass of the window. She wipes it away with the end of her sleeve.

He nodded absently, wondering if Eiffel had ever seen snow. It was unlikely that Renée would know, so he withheld the question. Just like so many of the other questions that he had about who he used to be. On their return trip, he’d said that he didn’t really care who Eiffel was, but truthfully he was so curious. He’d learned quite a bit from the regulated daily logs that Eiffel had recorded on the _Hephaestus_ , but he had learned very little about what he was like before going into space. He knew that he had a child, Anne, who probably wouldn’t be the happiest to see him. Neither would her mom from what he’d heard. Besides that, there was no information on his childhood. Did he have loving parents? Siblings? Did he even have a family at all?

“-join them?” Renée’s words break him out of his daze. He blinked rapidly and she frowned as she realizes that he wasn’t listening. Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything about it. “I asked if you wanted to join them.”

“I- yeah! Of course!” His face breaks into a wide smile. Without another word, he ran  back up to his room to grab his parka and a pair of boots. He slips them on as he raced down the stairs, feeling like a five-year old on Christmas.

Renée and Dom wait at the door, Renée looking like she’s about to climb Mount Everest with all the layers she’d put on. Doug chuckles slightly when he sees her and earns a death stare in return.

The first thing he noticed when they step outside is how quiet it is. It seemed as if there was no other life in the world except them. That train of thought is broken as a pick-up truck loudly barrelled down the street. A puff of cloudy air escapes his lips as he breathes, making him feel like a dragon. Daniel waved at them and jogs over. “Hey! It’s good to see you again.”

Dom nods, “You too. How you been?”

“Ah, you know. Same old, same old.” He chuckled  and turns to Doug and Renée, “So how you enjoying being back home?”

Renée rolls her eyes, “Is that even a question?”

“It is technically a question. A perfectly valid one if you ask me,” He shrugs. With lightning speed, he bends down, creates a ball of snow and chucks it at Isabelle. It hits right on the back of her neck.

She tenses and whipped around at him, “Daniel Jacobi. I swear to God-” She takes a deep breath, and her muscles relax, but the anger doesn’t leave her eyes. Daniel just grinned back at her like he had done nothing at all.

Suddenly, another snowball flew through the air. This one hit Daniel right between the eyes, causing him to stumble backwards. Isabelle sticks her tounge out at him and turned her attention back to shoveling the driveway. Daniel grumbled and returns to his seat beneath the tree.

“You want some help, Isabelle?” Dom asks, grabbing a shovel from the garage before she even has a chance to answer.

She rolls her eyes as she tossed a shovelful of snow over her shoulder, “I didn’t really, but since you’ve already got a shovel, you may as well.”

Something hard hit Doug between the shoulder blades. He spun around to see Renée smirking at him, another snowball resting in the palm of her hand, “Come on, let’s have a little fun.” Chucking the other snowball at Daniel, she dashed behind the magnolia tree. The snowball barely grazed his arm, but he still launched to his feet, gathering snow as he goes.

Deciding to join in, Doug scooped up a handful of snow and molded it into what looked more like a pear than a ball. He hurled it as fast as he can at Renée, but she easily dodges and replies by throwing a ball of her own. This one hit him square in the chest. Doug scowled at her, “Oh, you’re gonna get it now.” He exchanged a look with Daniel and the two gather snow to throw at Renée.

She sees them ganging up on her and called out to Dom and Isabelle, “Are you going to leave me alone in this?”

Isabelle shrugged, making a grating sound as the shovel scrapes against the asphalt. “Do you want a clear driveway?” She turned around, only for a pile of snow to be dropped on her head by a giggling Dominik. She turns on him, “Traitor.” Sprinting across the yard, she joins Renée. “Let’s smoke these fools.”

Dom joins Doug and Daniel’s team, thus beginning the largest snowball fight five grown adults could possibly have. Daniel, who is incredibly good at sneaking, infiltrated the girls’ base more than once, destroying their supply of ready-made snowballs. Isabelle proved to have impeccable aim, but, surprisingly, so did Dom. Doug found that he really wasn’t great at doing anything, especially at actually hitting his targets. Most of his snowballs flew right past, or landed right in front of where they should hit.

Twenty minutes and a whole lot of snowballs later, they all lay on the melting and muddy snow laughing and trying to catch their breath. Doug closed his eyes and relaxes his head against the crumbling wall of a failed attempt at building a fort. Turns out the only things that Daniel can even come close to building right are explosives. The wall crumbled under his weight and his head fell into the soft blanket of snow. Someone laughed and he does too. A soft breeze washed over him.

Isabelle stood and grumbled something about finishing the driveway. Renée playfully smacked her arm and tells her not to worry about it. She sighed, agreed, headed back inside the house as she complained about being wet.

Dom stumbled to his feet and stretched his arms above his head. “Anyone down for some hot cocoa?”

“Hella.” Daniel said. Doug and Renée nodded in agreement and they follow Isabelle inside.

As Dom made their drinks, they gathered around the dining room table. Daniel told them about his journey to the Goddard Facility in California, a somehow humorous story that ended with about ten explosions and the destruction of the entire Goddard medical department. It’s impossible to tell if he’s fabricating the story or not. For the first time, Renée laughed at a story about their former company. It seemed to surprise her, but her smile was as bright as the sun afterwards. And for the first time, they’re all together, four survivors of something horrible, and they’re happy.


End file.
